People Mover Proposed for San Diego Airport

San Diego regional planners are shifting gears with a new proposal to bring a people mover to the city’s airport, report Lori Weisberg and Jennifer Van Grove. “Key to making the latest multibillion-dollar idea work is routing the new transit line — both above and below ground — from a 13-acre piece of government-owned land on Pacific Highway, where the Port of San Diego’s administrative offices are located.” Additionally, “A second route would go between the airport and the Santa Fe Depot with a stop at the County Administration Building.”

According to the article, “The two routes would take no longer than eight or nine minutes to traverse on an automated people mover.”

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) plans to break ground on the project in two years. “Envisioned as part of the proposed port transit center would be new port facilities, low-cost accommodations, a maintenance facility to service the transit vehicles, and direct access ramps to Interstate 5.”

The source article outlines the agency’s plan to expedite the people mover while still pursuing future plans for a centralized mobility hub, which were largely scrapped due to concerns that SANDAG’s preferred location was too out of the way and would delay the project for too long.